


Rebooting Time (Because This Isn’t Good Enough Yet)

by StarxRox



Series: Where the Star(c)ks mess up the timeline. [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker (soon), Howard Stark Lives, Howard is not a Bad Parent, Kid Tony Stark (soon), MIT Era, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarxRox/pseuds/StarxRox
Summary: It is the year 2028.Five years have passed, since Tony died, a little bit less than four, since the mess with Peter Parker’s identity had been cleared and one day since Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme had figured out, how to fill the emptiness, that Tony Stark death has caused.Of course he needs the help of MIT student Peter Parker, as the boy is the only one who can do it and achieve the hoped end result.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Howard Stark, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Where the Star(c)ks mess up the timeline. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780468
Comments: 50
Kudos: 168





	1. The beginning

> _Master Strange, have you seen all futures of the universe?_
> 
> _Do you know with certainty, if your solution was the only way?_
> 
> _What happens, if you are wrong and there was another way for this to end._
> 
> _Maybe the boy wouldn’t have lost his mentor, maybe the girl wouldn’t have lost her father._
> 
> _But what if I told you, that there is still a possibility to save him, even now, years after his death?_
> 
> _Would you be ready to sacrifice the reality to let the world start growing again?_
> 
> _Strange, how easy it sounds-_

A bucket filled with ice cold water was emptied over him, immediately bringing him back to reality. Stephen shivered, as his wet clothes sticked on his very body and his temperature radically decreased. 

“By the vashanti, was it necessary to wake me with water?!”

“You didn’t react to our calls, Doctor, and the way you slapped around yourself nobody thought it was smart to endanger ourselves to unnecessary injuries.”

The novice, who was still holding the now empty bucket, dared to shoot him a mischievous smile, when he finally got up from his bed, groaning grumpily and made his way over the room. 

“You’ve anything important to say, Alan?”

Under his glare the novice immediately shrunk some inches, as Stephen made sure to posture himself as threatening as possible. 

“No, doctor...”

“Go, help Wong sort the books in the library.”

Excusing himself, the novice left a moment later in a hurry leaving Stephen back alone in his thoughts. The dream he had opened so many unasked question, the first time it robbed him hours of sleep. 

That has been two years ago, just after he managed to drive everybody, who had still had given a shit about him except Wong away.

Even the Parker boy was pissed at him. Yet, Stephen couldn’t help himself, when the guilt ate him from the inside, knowing who was responsible for the boy’s mentor’s early decease. 

Since then Stephen might not have had the healthiest life one could imagine, sleeping rarely more than two hours in a night, spending most of his time in the library with doing research, when he had no duties from his job as sorcerer supreme to fulfil and isolating himself from the world. 

In the time period of two years he, the sorcerer supreme had only left the sanctum two times and both were work related, since the threats weren’t anything like the stuff the other masters had to handle. 

Yet, Stephen knew this isolation was going to end soon, as he had found a way. 

All he had to do was rewrite the history.


	2. The Big Talk (that he knew was a bad idea)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always appreciate comments, even if you kick my ass by sassing me.
> 
> So thanks ChristineIGuess. 
> 
> You are the reason this chapter exists in a written form.

> _I need to talk with you tomorrow._

That were the only word Doctor Strange had exchanged woth Peter since the fight at the funeral.

After years of silence the wizard finally reached out to Peter. The young man was unsure, if he made the right decision, slowly taking a step through the entry of the sanctum he had never visited before.

Having reached the building, he waited in the main hall, staring at the countless old pbjects, which reminded him of the stuff sold in antique shops.

It was, as if somebody taken him back in time to some centuries ago as soon he entered the strange building. Considering the weird clothes the doctor had worn on.... titan, Peter wasn't very surprised, that the place, where he resided did not look any less strange.

"Mister Parker. It is nice to see you after all these years again. How has time treated you?"

Instantly Peter turned around to the origin of the voice, which had appeared out of nowhere. In front of him stood Doctor Strange in his usual unusual attire reminding Peter of a monk if it wasn't for the sentient cloak waving excitedly at him.

Irritated Peter waved back, while he regained his composure again.

"You wanted to talk with me, doc.", he snapped at the man. Just because a lot of time had passed between then and now, it did not mean Peter had forgiven the doctor for his actions.

"I see. You are still angry at me."

"What do you expect? You knew he would die and still let him save the universe without explaining him, it would cost him his life."

"If I had done that, we would still be dead."

"He had the right to know!"

"Can we not fight about this again? I have not brought you why there was no other way."

"Alright. Enlighten me, Sorcerer Supreme. What other self sacrificing ideas are floating through your mind? Who needs to die next to save the universe?" 

The doctor cringed a bit, aware of his guilt, while he glared at him annoyed, but Peter did not care if he hurt the man's feelings. 

Not really. 

"I found another way." 

He was surely not refering to the fourteen million futures he saw and the one they won. If he did, then he just killed the last reason Peter refused to completely despise the man who saw the need to sacrifice his father figure without informimg him of the consequences. 

"Another future, where we won?"

"Yes. One in which we all won. Where he lived."

"Why did you find it now, when it is already to late? The stones are destroyed and the time machine cannot change our own timeline, only create branch realities. It does not matter anymore." 

"The is a chance we can save him. You can do it." 

"Waiit a second- You expect me to trust you with your suicidal idea, sacrificing my live I worked very hard for to get back after I was dead because of you for five years, when you already killed earths best defender?" 

"Just listen to me, please.", he plead desperate, when Peter was considering to leave, as he had the feeling, whatever the doctor is going to tell him would not leave him, if he stayed. 

But his heart stopped for a moment, when he watched the doctor searching hopefully for a chance. 

A chance to be listened to. 

"Alright. I'll listen. But I do it only, because I cared for Mister Stark."

After all, the doctor had done everything he could to save the universe, even if he was forced to break his own rule of protecting the time stone to save Mister Stark'slife on titan. 

The leat he could do, was to listen to the good doc. If he didn't like it, he could still refuse afterwards and return to his own life, graduate at MIT and maybe even propose to MJ. 

"I can send a person back in our timeline without the power of the infinity stones. It is a complicated process and it needs to be someone who had not lived in the time yet, otherwise the universe will take counter measures to get rid of the second version of a person. "

Oh, he surely did not like the idea. Doctor Strange needed another pawn to sacrifice? 

"So you need me, because I am young.", he blurted out, not sounding quite happy. 

"Yes, you are young enough to interfere with the past enough to change the outcome. I need you to become Tony's mentor."

Was this a fucking dream or why was this conversation becoming more ridiculous with every passing second? 

"Why would that change anything-" 

"A lot of time has been lost to prepare for Thanos after Tony found out for the upcoming possibility of another invasion in 2012, because he had a lot of undealt issues, that included a missing swnse of self worth and caused rifts in the Avengers. Some of the issues could easily be handled, when Tony is still a teenager. Also, learning how to be a superhero and enabling him earlier to build his armour could save us a lot of time as well."

He seriously wondered how the doctor knew so much about Mister Stark. They had known each other for how long? A day? 

"How have you found out all of this?" 

"I lived through millions of futures. A lot of them included Tony being a close friend of mine after we both lost everything. He told me, if he had a chance to save everybody again, he would take it, whatever it takes."

Slowly he realised, that sacrificing Tony must have made huge impact on the doctor as well and couldn't have been an easy decision.

What was this about him not caring about hurting the docs feelings?

Maybe he had been wrong to be so angry at Doctor Strange for doing what was necessary. 

"But if he was your friend.... why?" 

"I explained several times, that there was no other way. I tried telling him advance, but it always led to our failure and even more loss than after the first snap." 

oh. 

"He had the right to know."

This statement felt like a hollow echo of the earlier one, without all the anger and fury he had felt towards the doctor, but with a hint of understanding in the tune of his voice. 

"Don't you think I have been aware of that fact before I gave Thanos the stone?" 

Sure, he had been aware, but until now Peter always thought that Mister Stark had been just a pawn in a game for Strange, not a good friend.

"What will happen to me, when I go back?" 

He had known from the beginning, that this conversation was a mistake, because now he couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities. 

"By sending you back I erase every trace of this future and your connection to it. There is no way to come back, once in your past. You will get a blank slate. You can not keep most of the big events from happening, as the invasion of 2012, since too much have happened already by then. But you are able to influence the outcomes with your meddling."

"What will happen with me being stranded in the past when I am conceived?" 

When the doctor frowned, Peter did not need to hear his words to know the answer. Nonetheless he listened. 

"As this ritual has never been done before, there are two possible outcomes. The first one is, that the universe will recognise you as threat and erase you, so there are not two Peter's running around" 

"Ouch. Like being dusted all over again."

That hadn't been a fun experience. 

"In a way, yes. The second possibility is, by having erased our future timeline and all your connections to it, that your signature is foreign and different enough for the universe to refrain from killing you."

"That is going to be weird, if I survive the universe's assassinations attempt on me and meet younger me."

"You are considering this idea?" 

"I have thought about it a lot of times. Saving Mister Stark, if I could. My therapist asked me, if the events after the reincarnation, the second snap, had played out differently and given me a chance to choose between letting Mister Stark snap or doing it myself, killing myself in the process, would the end been a different one?"

"It would have killed Tony, knowing that he couldn't save you again." 

"I know. Still, I would have done it."

"You don't have to now. You've said it yourself, why should you sacrifice you life you've managed to build for yourself for the small chance of saving him?" 

"I think, it would be for the same reason he did it for me. Did you know he refused assisting the Avengers with the time heist at first?" 

"Yes, I did." 

"He only came to help, when he was reminded of losing me."

"Nobody is forcing you to return the favour"

"But could I ever find any peace again, knowing, I could have done something to save Mr Stark's life?" 

"I could find a way to help you forget it, if you want." 

"Please don't. No, I will do it. Prepare, do what you need, while I get my own affairs in order." 

"We will see each other soon then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other countries:  
> *cancel a-level exams*
> 
> My country:  
> Get gucked by Covid19, dear students. You will write the exams, even thought we have no real reason for the exams.
> 
> Me:  
> :'(


	3. Should he push the big red button?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Peter already made his decisions, he still has doubts about his upcoming departure to the past.
> 
> Maybe talking with the man, who dealt with Mister Stark's shit for decades might help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea has haunted me for months. I almost gave up on the story. But I guess I can't yet.
> 
> I still need to see Peter and Tony interacting with each other again. 
> 
> Endgame has truly killed me and can't accept Tony's death even after all these months. 
> 
> Also, I need a fucking distraction from Covid19. It's pissing me off.

"Hey Uncle Rhodey...", he started nervously, when the elder black male picked up his phone.

"Why do I have the feeling, that this call is one I will grow to regret of ever having picked up?"

"I don't know. Maybe it has to do with a conversation I had but regret?"

"What's up, little shit? I assume this is no social phone call? How's MIT? Everything's still fine there? Someone's treating you bad?"

"I got a message."

"From who? Are they blackmailing you? Do I need to call Pe-"

"Strange. Doctor Stephen Strange."

"I thought you two weren't on speaking terms."

"We weren't."

"Why are you now?"

"I was curious, why he reached out to me, requesting for a talk."

"The talk you regret?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, what is bugging you, little bug?"

"Spiders are not bugs, Uncle Rhodey! You should know it!"

"You are just as annoying as your dad."

"He- he wasn't my dad!"

"Yeah. Right. And I am not Colonel James Rhodes aka the badass superhero Warmachine."

"Let's agree to disagree."

"You can never win an argument with a fucking Starj, when they are stubborn. Alright. Now spit it out"

"You know about the 14000605 futures thing, don't you?"

"Yeah, i do. Your dad was a wreck, believing we were in the wrong future after we lost the half of the universe. After we lost you."

"What if there exists another way? A way we still, you know, follow and save Mister Stark while we are at it?"

"What's the catch?"

"Who says there's a catch?"

"I am not dumb, Peter Benjamin Parker. Those kind of things come always with a price."

"Using full names? That's a bold move!"

"Peter...."

"It's time travel. Only I can go back."

"And...?"

"By going back everything we fought for will be for nothing. We start at zero again. Like resetting a pc, we will have a blank slate."

"I suppose you didn't call me to knock this dumb idea out of your head. That is Pepper's job. And May's."

"No. I need your help."

"Do you need me to cover for you?" 

"No. In about a week the preparations for the trip are finished on Doctor Strange's side. When he's finished, I'll go. But until then I need to gather as much information as possible about the past, especially about Mr Stark, Howard and SHIELD."

"How far back will you go?" 

"1984" 

"Are you crazy???" 

"Well, if things go as expected I've just got time until the end of 2000. There is just a small chance I might survive after silvester."

"Why? What's the problem?" 

"Why do you think out of all people, who had known Mr Stark closely I am the only one who can do the task? Do the math."

"When were you born again?" 

"I am hurt, Uncle Rhodey." 

"You were conceived at the end of the 2000s? Weren't you?" 

"Yeah. It's odd to think about."

"What's your plan then?" 

"Wouldn't you love to know? Well, I've got none yet but you, my dear friend, are going to help me!" 

"I guess that's the best I can do with my last days to live"

"I wonder..." 

"Ask away." 

"Why don't you stop me?" 

"Peter, you weren't there, when half of the universe vanished. Things have changed. And maybe I hate the fact that my little brother is dead."

"Sooo, where we gonna start?" 

"You need a faked identity. Any ideas where to get the documents from?"

"I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... can you guess Peter's secret guy for faked identification?


	4. Tony's last speech

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning:
> 
> \- this chapter contains scenes, where you could very probable feel the sudden urge to cry and need some ice cream.
> 
> Please take care.

Some would say, that Howard Stark was a careless and charismatic man. At keast he seemed to be that man, when the camera's where focused on him.

As soon the noise of static disappeared, wrinkles as deep as cliffs deepened themselves into the weapon manufacturer's face, filled of worry about another invisible threat about to rattle his country's if not the world's safety.

Sometimes he was called Atlas by Peggy, because he always seemed to carry the weight of the world.

Shock would therefore describe the best the emotion Howard experienced, when he entered his office at Stark Industries and found his computer turned on, starting to play the familiar tune of 20th Century Fox's fanfare.

It was short and sounded very dramatic, but nothing happened. There was nobody in the room besides of Howard. Whoever had been there, had already left. 

Yet, the implications of the music playing on Howard's computer were tremendous. 

While the short piece of harmony was still playing, Howard slowly started to analyse the situation. 

Someone was sneaky and skilled enough to get past the security, who were supposed to keep unwanted visitor's out of the headquarters of Stark Industries and was even SHIELD proofed. 

While the intruder managed already this remarkable feat, he also avoided several sensors and alarms, which Howard had kept a secret from SHIELD. 

Said alarms send a signal to Howard's second pager, whenever they were triggered. This allowed him to plan discreetly counter measures without the previous intruders having been any wiser of it. 

But the guy who beat him surely had taken the great Howard Stark of guard, considering the only person he expected to be able to achieve such an impressive feat, was currently at the Stark mansion and having a piano lesson with Howard's wife. 

"Impressed?", a voice asked from nowhere. Thinking, there was a person standing behind him, Howard turned around immediately only staring at an empty spot of space. 

"Where are you?" 

"Did I scare you? Don't tell me, that you thought your lousy security here was enough to keep a guy from breaking in."

"My security is one of the be-" 

"Yeah, right. I did not come here to discuss the absence of good security measures in this place."

The voice sounded annoyed and young, as if it came of a teenager. But Howard was still alone in his offi- where the hell did the blue hologram of a familiar man in his fities come from? 

This was not even possible to do with the current inventions in science. It looked like somebody transported existing inventions from the Star Wars movies to the real world. 

And why did the man look so familiar to him? 

"Everybody wants a happy ending.", he started to speak, while staring directly at Howard. But he seemed a little bit off, not quite reacting to the industrialist, what made the genius guess, whatever he was seeing was prerecorded. 

"Right? But it doesn't always roll that way."

He chuckled, as the fateful day, when Captain Rogers disappeared into the arctic - yet to be found -, came to his mind.

Whoever that guy was, he surely must have experienced some bad stuff to come to that realisation. 

These hazelnut brown eyes... 

"Maybe this time." 

The man's face held an haunted, painful but yet still hopeful expression, as if he was looking forward in an optimistic mood, but worrying nonetheless. 

It's an expression Howard remembered from the war, when the elder soldiers were called to another fight. 

They had already seen the horrors of war, were aware of what was expecting them, but they believed, despite the odds, that when they would go fighting, the war could be won.

Rogers had woren said expression on the day where they raided the base in the alps. 

"I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration." 

Whoever that man was, he was prepared to die. But that was not, what confused Howard the most. His eyes were the true mystery. 

Why were those hazelnut brown eyes filled with trauma, fear and passionate hope so familiar to Howard? 

"I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored-" 

At that point, Howard was dreaming or somebody was fucking with his mind, as the implications of some Armageddon like scenario happening were not something Howard could sleep peacefully with - provided that he ever could.

"-if there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised, but come on. The epic forces of dark and light that have come in to play."

A memory popped up of him and Tony going to the cinema to see the first released movie of the famous Star Wars series. They had later joked about the forces of good and evil and ate some ice cream. 

It was one of few good memories he had with his son, as his duties demanded a lot of his time. 

Howard noticed, that Tony had the same hazelbrown eyes. 

"And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in."

He talked the same way Howard did about Tony, when only trusted friends were present. Morgan was probably the man's son. 

He and Tony shared the same eye color. 

Howard couldn't stop himself searching for other similarities they might share. 

" So I thought I better record a little greeting, in the case of an untimely death, on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely.  
This time travel thing we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. Then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I even tripping for? Everything's gonna workout exactly the way it's supposed to."

Then it hit him like a wall of bricks. 

The epiphany was an impossible one, requiring an unthinkable improvement of science and a complete revolution of the understanding of reality. 

In front of him sat his son, only decades older and worn down by life, yet fulfilled with so much happiness and hope for more. 

He took a step forward to the projection, while his Tony stood up and walk forward as well. 

They faced each other, then in almost complete synchronisation they bend on their knees, staring in each other's eyes. 

  
" I love you 3000." 

Tony faded into nothingness as tears welled up in the old man's eyes, trying to process what just happened mere moments ago. 

Aware, that the declaration of love was not supposed to be for him but for his son's child, he whispered back anyways. 

"Love you, too."

"Maybe try saying that to your son in person the next time you see him. It would mean a lot to him."

Until now Howard had completely forgotten about the mysterious voice, having been distracted by some kind of futuristic recording his son left. 

He was surprised to see a teenager sitting on his desk. 

"Yeah, you're seeing right. A kid is sitting on your desk. Why a kid? Doesn't matter now. You've seen the message your son left, you heard him talking about some kind of world saving mission and being scared of his eventual death. He did die afterwards, but we won. Until now, there had been no way to save him."

"Who are you? How do you want to save Tony? What happened?" 

"My name is Peter Benjamin Parker and my mission is to be Tony Stark's mentor like he was mine. What happened? Well, I can not tell much, but I can say one thing: Tony Stark was in my time earth's best defender." 

"Are you even old enough for this shit?" 

"I am 22 years old, so I guess I am. It's not like I've done crazier 'shit' before."

"So time travelling is real now..." 

"My birth is going to be in the year 2001... ao i would say: yes, indeed."

"You're from 2023?"

"2028. Some other crazy shit happened where dozen of people disappeared for five years. I was one of them."

"I need a break."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I would get more comments.... even a shitty crackfic i wrote in 30min on another account got more comments in A DAY.
> 
> While this story... I try to make it a good one.
> 
> :(
> 
> (Insert sad tears)


	5. The need to drink a glass of scotch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It continues, where the last chapter stopped. Howard still needs a moment to get his mind in order, while Peter silently supports him.
> 
> Also, Howard realises that he just gained another little disrespectful little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So another update. Edwin Jarvis won't be a part of this story yet. Howard's dumbfounded reaction was just too precious to not write another chapter about it.
> 
> (If drawing without any kind of template would be so fucking difficult, I would have drawn you the exact expression of Howard, when he said 'I need a break') 
> 
> also thanks to you, my lovely readers for leaving such nice comments warming up my sometimes numb heart and distracting me from the stress I currently have due to upcoming unnecessary finals that will make a third of my GPA of my highschool gradution. 
> 
> (yeah we still write finals, yes i know corona exists and yes the school is a beautiful and nice place with a lot of students attending there and staying for hours in the same room to write finals,breathing the same air with masks that just barely protect others from being infected. This is not a joke.)
> 
> I stop with my dark thoughts and let you read in peace now! :)

He was not sure, what he could do to help the man, who was now situated in his chair, as the man seemed to be completely lost in his thoughts.

Peter shuffled uncomfortable with his hands, while the great Howard Stark stared into space with his fingers slowly dragging themselves through his silvery grey hair.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

Somehow, by some miracle, there was a bottle of water and some clean glasses resting on a shelf, probably having been left by an assistant or the cleaning stuff.

He got a glass and poured some water into it, before he put it on the desk, in front of Howard. Then he went silently to a corner to grab himself a chair to sit down.

If Howard needed some time to process the upsetting news Peter had brought with him from the future, he could at least be patient and wait.

It took a while until Howard noticed the glass placed neatly next to the stack of files on his desk, eyeing it a little bit confused until realisation almost unnoticable softened the suspecting wrinkles beneath his lids.

Other people would not have noticed the almost invisible change, but Peter was used to the quirks of his mentor and therefore able to spot them yet again in a man he never expected to meet, when he was still a child.

It was almost funny, how similar the two clearly related men could be.

"Why did you come to me? You could have gone to Tony instead or maybe kept this whole insane stuff about time travel to yourself. Why do you need me?"

He could have done that, but then he would have lost a lot of time for forging his documents to etablish a fake identity. 

"Tell me a reason, why not. You are smart, have a lot of money, own an industry, are the big boss of an organisation only few people know about. Alone these variables grant you an amount of influence, that makes it easier for me to manipulate the outcome of the future."

Also, he wanted his mentor to have a better relationship with his father. 

"While I am slightly concerned about the amount of knowledge you seem to have at your disposal, I hear a 'but...'"

A lot of their misuderstandings were just caused by their inability to properly communicate their thoughts and feelings. 

"But the most important fact about you is, you are Tony's father and you love him, despite all his assumptions indicating otherwise. I am here to help you with that."

"What are you saying? Why would Tony think that I hate him?"

How could Tony ever believe such a thing indeed, when his father never told him he loved him or showed how proud he was of his son's achievements? 

How could one believe a person cared for them, if said person was rarely present and most of the time busy and absent, doing other things that were apparently 'more important'? 

"You are awful at communicating. Like really awful, as far I can judge from stories about you. Also I am here, because I need some documents establishing I am a real existing person, who did not appear out of nowhere and might be a russian spy, although the only russian words I know are rude curses."

Howard chuckled, as the corners of his mouth turbed upwards, while he shook his head amused by Peter's antics. 

"How am I not even surprised by this? Where did you even learn how to swear in Russian, boy?"

"That's a long story involving annoying criminals, an ex-spy from the red room and me getting my ass handed several times, trying to keep highly skilled assassins, that knew uncountable ways to kill little stubborn me."

In this very moment Howard looked like he was about to throw his glass at Peter's statement and hit the wall with his head several times as well. 

Peter did not have a clue, why the man was so upset. He dealt with Roger's stubborn ass for years. 

"Do you have any sense of self preservation at all or is this reasonable and sane concept of staying alive completely lost on you, kid?!"

"I prefer not to comment on that inquiry."

Exasperated Howard threw his hands into the air, exclaiming loudly, while Peter could not stop himself from snickering. 

"Frankly, I dread the day Tony meets you, Mister Parker, because the two of you will be my end."

"Aw come on, Howie. Don't be so dramatic. You are despite all those little defects and rust still in an satisfiable condition. The older a wine becomes, the better it gets, wasn't it?" 

Ups. Maybe he should not have aggravated the elderly man any further, but honestly Peter couldn't find it in himself to feel any pity. 

Seeing a dumbfounded and yet pissed off Howard Stark was just too funny to forego. 

"I honestly contemplate killing you, Ben Walter Reilly." 

"Benatafuck?"

"Ben Walter Reilly. No russian spy would use such a ridiculous name. Also, the sound of that Name will remind you everyday, what a little shit you are."

He would not use that horrible assamblation of names. Did a toddler come up with that awful idea? At least he knew now, that incompetence of namimg things was an inhereted trait in the Stark family. He cringed at the memory of the baby protocolls. 

"I admit, that the name sounds very... uncommon."

"Too bad for you, that I am the guy, who fakes your identity."

Howard was right. But honestly, why that awful name??? He loved Ben but the combination was trully horrifying-Wait. Stark!? 

"Seriously, are you going to name me Ben Reilly?" 

"It's at least conspicious enough to not attract too much unwanted attention until I tell some bloody fuckers about your 'relation' to our family as Tony’s personal bodyguard." 

"How about no attention at all?", he asked sarcastically, being aware of the fact it was impossible to stay out of any tabloids inquiring his connections to the Stark family. 

People were very curious and sometimes very determined to fulfill their curiosity.

"That's impossible, but maybe I can at devert some of the attention away from you by releasing some new inventions I held back with for now-" 

Awesome! He was goimg to witness the first ARC reactor going public! It was still unbelievable, that Mister Stane described the technology, that would later enable the access to unlimited energy, as nothing more than a mere 'hippie project'. 

"The ARC reactor?" 

"I suppose, that that one became very famous?" 

Iconic even. stark Industries had to patent even the design of the visible casing, because cloth industries were turning crazy with producing Iron Man merch. 

There was no Iron Man without a glow lightening the dark. 

"Not in the beginning. It would be a smart idea to include Tony to the ARC reactor project, though."

If his mentor managed to revolutionise the understanding of technology in some cave in Afghanistan, then there were few things stopping him from changing the world with proper support. 

"Me and Tony barely manage to stand each other's presence these days. Us working together would be asking for an uncontrolled, utter disaster." 

That's the reason, why he's here. Somebody needed to do the damage control. 

"Maybe that's exactly what you two need to get closer."

"I will think about it. What's about you? Should I publicly acknowledge you as my son or not? I forgot to ask" 

"On the one hand I would appreciate the absence of constant surveillance and be left in peace, but on the other hand I'll be spendimg a lot of time with Tony and am going to be caught sooner or later. Better we do it now and control the resulting fallout, than be surprised later on."

"You've got any experience with press?"

"If a supervillian reveals your secret identity to the whole world, what do you think happens? Especially, when the world realises you had connections to one of the most popular people the whole time and nobody had suspected a thing."

"Kid, I am really questioning your life at this point."

"Your son did reveal his identity by saying 'The truth is I am Iron Man' at the first press conference, where Iron Man was publicly known as superhero, but still had an secret identity."

"I am not very surprised about that one. Tony always loves his drama."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw
> 
> Which country do you think I am from?  
> and which countries are you from?
> 
> Coming Soon:
> 
> Edwin Jarvis cooking delicious casseroles.


	6. Announcement

I am currently working on three chapters on the same time. The reason? Because one is the next update, one will decide how the future chapters turn out and the third just kind of happened and I will do my best to add it to the story as well, even though the third will be the fucking most difficult to write.

To be honest, it might the the most difficult piece of text to write in my short life of almost 18 years (0.0)

And i had my final exam in German today...

sooo I somehow managed to tease those chapters without revealing anything (well I did reveal something already in the comments but that was already kind of obvious.)

I really am looking forward how this tiny anti stress project turns out.

FYI-

I am German, but my ancestry... is kind of complicated. Apparently some guy on my motherly side came from turkey, while my fatherly side originally came from germany, but the most people of both sides live in poland these days. Yet I was born, grew up and do live in Germany.

Also I am still amazed at the power of the internet, since people from all over the world read this puny little story of mine (yay ^^)

Hello to Russia, Canada, Germany and of course the USA.

I hope you and your family is fine. Job wise and health wise.

(Next time: Jarvis cooks a casserole) 


	7. Bad News: News from the author "I am stuck"

Well, the next chapter you all waited for is almost finished but I can not finish it as I am stuck and don't know how to continue afterwards.

But I really don't want to abandon this story just because I lost inspiration and motivation. 

So there are some options for you: 

You can request what exactly you want to see in that next chapter and I'll might incorporate your ideas or even throw away (metaphorically) my current draft and completely rewrite said chapter. 

Or you all keep waiting. I can not guarantee you, that there will be any updates soon as I have managed only two long term projects to write until now and even those are unfinished.

The third option is me posting the draft in its raw form despite being quite unhappy about it and just try to move on.

Also, if anybody knows any platform where you can play Marvel themed roleplay games in form of chats with max 15 people in a group or are interested in playing a roleplay game with me on Discord or Skype... Make sure to leave a comment. 

I have some ideas but the issue is I can't form them into written words and especially the moment where Peter will meet young Tony and Maria is... quite... difficult. 

Greetings, 

StarxRox

(I love every single comment you guys leave)


End file.
